Spelling Wisdom

A Complete Homeschool Spelling Curriculum

The five Spelling Wisdom books’ exercises become progressively longer and contain more difficult words as you work through the series. Each book contains 140 exercises. If you cover two exercises per week, you should be able to finish a Spelling Wisdom book in a little less than two school years.

Placing Your Child

Charlotte Mason began dictation exercises with students around the third or fourth grade. With that schedule in mind, here is a rough model of which books correspond to which grades:

• Book 1: Grades 3 and 4 (Transcription for lessons 1–70; transition to prepared dictation with Lessons 71–140.)

Grade 3 (Exercises 1–70)—Assign the whole passage to be transcribed. Occasionally ask the student to verbally spell two or three words from the passage from memory.

Grade 4 (Exercises 71–140)—Assign up to the whole passage. Dictate one or two sentences.

• Book 2: Grades 5 and 6

Grade 5 (Exercises 1–70)—Assign up to the whole passage. Dictate two or three sentences.

Grade 6 (Exercises 71–140)—Assign up to the whole passage. Dictate three or four sentences.

• Book 3: Grades 7 and 8

Grade 7 (Exercises 1–70)—Assign the whole passage. Dictate up to one paragraph.

Grade 8 (Exercises 71–140)—Assign the whole passage. Dictate up to one paragraph.

• Book 4: Grades 9 and 10

Grade 9 (Exercises 1–70)—Assign the whole passage. Dictate up to two paragraphs.

Grade 10 (Exercises 71–140)—Assign the whole passage. Dictate up to two paragraphs.

• Book 5: Grades 11 and 12

Grade 11 (Exercises 1–70)—Assign the whole passage. Dictate up to three paragraphs.

Grade 12 (Exercises 71–140)—Assign the whole passage. Dictate up to three paragraphs.

Quality Sources

Compiled from dozens of quality sources, including:

• Excerpts from Literary Classics, such as Aesop’s Fables, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Black Beauty, David Copperfield, The Deerslayer, Freckles, Les Miserables, Little Women, Robinson Crusoe, The Secret Garden, The Story of My Life, and The Wind in the Willows.
• Speeches and quotes of famous men, such as Sir Winston Churchill, Theodore Roosevelt, and George Washington.
• Charlotte Mason quotes and excerpts from Ourselves.
• Letters written by famous men, such as Beethoven, Seneca, Mozart, and Abraham Lincoln.
• Poems, written by such poets as Stevenson, Wordsworth, Emerson, Longfellow, and Holmes.
• Scripture passages.
• Excerpts from Shakespeare’s plays, plus several Sonnets.

Subjects Included

Exercises thoughtfully selected to support a generous education and broad curriculum, including:

History
Literature
Math
Science
Character Development
Bible
Poetry
Geography
Shakespeare
Art
Music
Language Arts

Add Using Language Well for more language arts lessons

Pair Using Language Well with Spelling Wisdom to add lessons teaching English usage, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and composition through great literature!